India's New Delhi to Get 3G Services by Year End

India's state owned operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has announced that it will launch a test 3G network by the end of the month in New Delhi - with a commercial launch expected by the end of this year.

MTNL and BSNL were both granted 3G licenses in advance of the main auction to private operators - and will be required to pay the same license fee as is finally agreed on when the private auction is completed.

"MTNL will launch the first ever 3G mobile services in the country on test basis in Delhi by the end of the current month," the official statement said. The company has already completed laboratory grade tests and will launch the tests in the Capital's Connaught Place area.

A second network in Mumbai will be launched early next year.

The Mobile World subscriber database notes that MTNL ended the first half of this year with just under 1.7 million subscribers in the Delhi metro area, along with 1.9 million in Mumbai.

Rival state owned operator, BSNL recently sent an internal memo to all its regional managers telling them to take the necessary action to prepare for a December launch for its own 3G network

Posted to the site on 11th September 2008